A Ruler's Calling
by fishylishy
Summary: Any LoZ game: Zelda's endurance is tested before she becomes ruler of Hyrule. Will saving others in grace save her from a cruel death?


**Hey everybody! As you may know, I'm ****Lish****. That's what I like to be called—don't ask why, just respect my wishes. Anyway, this is my newest oneshot, which I shall call **_**A Ruler's Calling**_**. It takes place when Zelda is sixteen and has just been appointed as Princess. It could take place in **_**any**_** game, though I think it bests fits TP. It's only an oneshot, though.**

**Background information:**

**In Hyrule, it was said that every ruler must spend three days and nights at the Ziggurat that is located in the Sacred Forest, praying all the time. The new ruler must fast the whole time and only have a sip of water from their canteen every day. It is said that the ruler will come back with a vision that was sent by the Goddesses. And so Zelda, sixteen years old, on the first unofficial day of her leadership, went to the Ziggurat.**

_**A Ruler's Calling**_

The sun was hot on her back and her knees were sore, though she had only been at this for one day and night. Sitting as still as a stone in front of a clay alter, sixty feet above the ground, on top of the Ziggurat of Light, was wearing on her soul. Beneath her, the dense evergreen forest provided her with cheerful company—birds chirping, coyotes howling.

_When will my vision come?_ Zelda asked herself. _What if I do not have one?_ She knew the answer to the second question. A shiver of anxiety and stress rocked her small body as she thought of it. She would be the end of her family's dynasty, if that was the case. The Punishment of Failure on this mission was fatal, as well. Fifty lashes of a whip and thirty pelts with stone.

_That won't happen_. _The Goddesses shall guide me and keep me safe._ Somehow, she believed herself and went back to her undisturbed concentrating. She didn't always know what she was praying for. At dawn, she prayed for the welfare of her people. At noon, she'd pray for her own strength. At twilight, she would pray for the souls of the dead. The rest of the time, she just prayed. She felt no emotion except hope and fear.

Slowly, the sky turned from a lake-blue to a golden batter. It was streaked with beautiful, angelic colors. A warm maroon rip in the sky to her left, and to her right there was a long stain of violet. Dusk came and went, and as the sun was completely erased, her Triforce glowed. Zelda smiled as she recalled her mother telling her that she was special. That this meant she was going to be extra wise—that she would be a great ruler for Hyrule one day.

_I wonder how it was for mother. _Silently, Zelda nodded at the alter and took a small sip from her canteen that hung around her neck. _Water is priceless_. The coldness rushed through her throat and refreshed her. She pulled her velvet, gray cloak onto her and shivered slightly at the warmth it brought to her body. _Mother used to say that this cloak kept her from freezing in the three winter days she was here._

An owl below called up to her in a mournful tone. _I am like an owl._ She observed as she closed her eyes and started to pray again. _I am wise and I always call out._ She stopped thinking about how nature sounded like her and started thinking about the Goddesses of Light. Did they believe she was worthy? They had blessed her with the Triforce of Wisdom, after all.

Four hours later, she felt stiff and tired. She wanted so badly to sleep. _They didn't say that I couldn't sleep, they said I had to fast…_Zelda leaned her head down on the hard, cold alter and started to doze. She envisioned the hard, ox fiber whip coming hard on her bare back and a stone hitting her skull. Falling back in the middle of castle town, hitting the ground…

_I'd better not risk it._ Zelda sat up sharply and shook her body, rubbing off her eyes and clapping her hands together in front of her. _O Goddesses of Light, guide me on this journey!_

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She had made it through the night. "Thank you," Zelda whispered, looking at the carvings on the alter. She was looking at the image of a beautiful woman, her perfectly tall and thin body draped across the top of the Triforce. She smirked to herself as she studied the skies. They were a dark, gray mixed with purple and black. Rain clouds. _Oh, please no!_ She looked at the alter. _This is a sign. A sign that I am not praying hard enough. Today and tonight—those are my chances. I must pray!_ She started chanting a little bit as she prayed for her people.

However hard she prayed, it did not stop the clouds from releasing the rain. Zelda had heard that whenever it rained, the Goddesses were unhappy and they were weeping. _Is this their way of telling me that I'm failing?_

The rain was icy and soaked into her cloak. The velvet was spreading the wetness onto body. _I am freezing. I will freeze._ Zelda couldn't will herself to take of the cloak. She couldn't.

Her stomach growled violently. She was hungry and thirsty and tired. She couldn't let herself freeze out here and she couldn't disobey the code of law. Tears rolled from her eyes and joined into the parade of water rolling down her body.

Finally, she gave in and grabbed at the cloak. It fell soundlessly to the floor next to her, leaving her in a short, sleeveless gown. A quiet sob escaped her lips. "I'm sorry, Mother. I…didn't know I was this weak. I would have never accepted this quest." She felt helpless and wounded and foolish.

So she did what she could only do. Zelda prayed over the alter, her body draping across it as she sobbed and prayed at the same time. _The people before me made the same exact sacrifices. _But she couldn't convince herself that anyone had cried on this sacred landmark before.

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Nightfall came and the rain stopped almost completely. It left the air humid and the misty drizzle was warm. Zelda knew that she was still cold, but she couldn't help but feeling warm. _Maybe they are making my last night warm, even if I failed._

"You have not failed, young Zelda." The voice was seeping with kindness, a low murmur that resembled an Eagle's cry.

Startled, Zelda turned around. Sitting on the top steps casually was a young woman, with silvery, long hair that cascaded down to her hips. She had ivory pale skin that seemed to glow, and wide, golden eyes. Her legs were long and the skimpy clothes she wore did not cover her. She wore nothing but a green tunic. _The Hero's Tunic, worn by a woman. I've never heard of such a thing._

"Who are you?" Zelda turned her body slightly so she could face the woman.

"I cannot tell you my name, Zelda."

"Are you of another world? Are you a Goddess?" That would, after all, explain the golden glow radiating off of this woman's skin. Zelda was jaw-dropped by this extraordinary beauty.

"I am a Goddess."

"You have come to bear me with your wisdom? My vision?!" Zelda cried out, relieved and happy. She had a life ahead of her! She would live on in her dynasty! She would eat food and sleep in a bed and be sheltered. An undying joy filled her body. Tears rushed to her eyes as she leapt forward to hug the woman.

The Goddess warmly accepted her embrace. After a moment, she put her hands on Zelda's shoulders. "Make your kingdom proud, child. Dawn shall break soon after your vision." _Her hands feel like silk,_ Zelda noticed.

"I am ready, O Great Goddess," Zelda insisted. The Goddess nodded and closed her eyes, tightening her grip on Zelda's shoulders…

Her stomach suddenly dropped and the Ziggurat around her turned into a muddy hill with a small, elm sapling. It was in an alley in Castle Town. Zelda then knew the hill was not one of mud. Besides there was a woman, her hair tangled on her head and her skin so dirty that Zelda could not tell the shade, breast feeding two babies. There was another child, two or three years of age, crying next to mother. All their clothes were ripped. As the two babies were put down to the ground, Zelda read their expressions. _She could not feed them._ _She has no food and no energy._ The mother's face fell and she let out a blood curdling cry.

Then it was all gone. The Ziggurat, glowing in dawn's breaking golden glow, was back. Zelda knew her duty. She must be the Protector. She would find this woman, today—before she ate anything or slept.

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Castle Town's stone walls and alleys were lit by beautifully carved torches. People danced in circles in the square, laughing and yelling in their drunken, modest glee. Several Guards and Advisors were waiting by the town's iron gates, an approving look on their faces.

"Princess. You have returned. You had your vision, I presume," One of the advisors, a crippling woman named Kate asked. Zelda nodded slowly, exhaustion and hunger fatiguing her. The woman held out a bread basket with a freshly baked loaf of sourdough, steaming with butter. There was a baked potato and a load of Ranch Goat Cheese. There was a drumstick, greasy and fat. Zelda's mouth watered, but she had a more overwhelming desire.

"My vision showed me poverty, and to poverty I must reward this basket." A few members of her welcoming party gasped. "I will meet you all in Central Square, in just thirty minutes." She took the basket of goods and ran through the gates, her cloak—now dry and warm again—masking her identity.

It wasn't hard to find the alley. She knew where it would be—near the dumping grounds. The smell nearly took her down—the smell of trash and dung strong, coating the air. The alley was just as dark and damp as it was in Zelda's vision.

The woman was breathing heavily. As she heard Zelda's bare feet on the stone ground, she crawled in front of her children protectively. Zelda's heart leapt out of her chest at the emotion in the woman's face. "What…do…you want?" She rasped.

"My good woman, I have come to give you this," The Princess knelt down and slowly handed the woman the reed woven basket. The homeless woman hesitated to take it. Zelda laughed. "It's all your's, you and your family may have it."

Slowly, the stranger's face lit up into a tearful smile. "Goddesses bless you!" She cried, awakening her children. She laughed merrily and handed them each a greasy piece of meat and a piece of cheese. Their eyes were wide and they smiled and sang out to each other as they stuffed the food into their mouths.

Zelda was delighted with herself. As she turned to go, her hood fell.

"You…you…you are the Princess?!" The mother gasped.

Zelda nodded slowly. "I will make sure you have a job and a roof."

"You have a blessing, child. You have a calling. You have earned my trust."

"I have no calling. I am but a ruler." Zelda left the alley, cloak billowing, her stance strong and her eyes narrow. _A ruler with a purpose._ And she could almost see the blinding beauty of her Goddess, standing in the alley, nodding at her with approval. _I have passed._

**How did you guys like it? I am personally pleased with it, but I would like opinions. Actually, this is what I want as a minimum. It's my idea of critismn, I'd LOVE for everyone (you don't have to have an account to review) to do this for me in their review.**

**One comment—on what I'm doing right in my work.**

**Two questions about this piece.**

**OH! And I'd love to take requests for oneshots or songfics..**

**Thanks, everyone! Have a good day.**


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